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“Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies because of violence, while up to one-third of adolescent girls report their first sexual experience as being forced and are thus victims of sexual violence.”
So said the Rivers State director of the non-governmental organisation, Youth For Human Rights, Bright Temple N., who in his address at the International Day Of The Girl Child 2018 in Port Harcourt, enumerated the challenges facing the girl-child.
Addressing a gathering made up of Youth For Human Rights members, the president of USGEAAN, Prof. Julie Umukoro, chief legal adviser at the National Human Rights Commission, South South Zone, founder of Purple Signet Foundation/Organisers of RED (Reorientation Empowerment Development) and secondary schools students, Temple regretted that “currently at least 133 million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation.”
Drawing attention to the plight of the Dapchi girl, Leah Sharibu, presently held captive by Boko Haram, Bright Temple urged the gathering to remember her in their prayers, adding that based on article 3, 18 and 26 of Universal declaration of human rights, Leah Sharibu has the right to life and the right to religion and education.
“Let me say that too often adolescent girls face intersecting disadvantages because of their age, gender, ethnic background, sexual identity, religion affiliation, income, disability among other compounded factors. We have seen pictures, evoked images of girls in different situations that live with disadvantage. It is often forgotten that women and girls are not only helpless victims, they are sources of power, power to cope, power to prevent, power to reduce risk, power for resilience and transformation and to build back better after crisis. That is the power that we want to invoke and tap into.
“Today, more than 98 million adolescent girls around the world aren’t in school. Imagine, that more than 700 million women alive today were married below the age of 18 – and more than one in three (some 250 million) were married before 15.
The 2030 Agenda has pledged to leave no one behind. This means that in our development efforts, girls must be a priority. The world should ensure girls are granted all the opportunities they deserve as they mature into adulthood,” he said.
Temple commended USGEAAN, Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Give Her A Chance Africa and YALI for supporting the International Day of the Girl event, noting that his group, Youth For Human Rights Rivers State, “works to create free awareness on the rights of adolescent girls through comprehensive human rights education, human trafficking education, and through encouraging girls’ empowerment and participation in decisions affecting them. We encourage healthy relationships, and support for human rights of all people, everywhere.
“Youth for Human Rights Rivers State is not a political group, it is a group established to fulfil article 29 of Universal declaration of human rights. Responsibility, which means we have the duty to give back to the society, to educate and protect the rights of others
“We need your support and encouragement to reach all schools and communities in Rivers State for human rights education. Your support are also needed for the forthcoming 100 teachers training on human rights education, at the end of the training the teachers and participants will in turn deliver the program to their students, communities and to Inspire the children and youths to become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace,” he said.
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated annually on 11th October. The main aim of the day is to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfillment of their human rights while also highlighting the challenges that girls all over the world face.
